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We've Hit Nadir WhenWeLiveIn SUVs, Sell Plots

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By STEVE OTTO

The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 27, 2008

I probably should have paid more attention to the coming Great Depression. Just because the Frau has this unhappy habit of checking our retirement plan every day and announcing loudly how much more money we've lost, I still figured everything would be OK down the road, even at $5 a gallon gas. Maybe that comes from watching too many movies.

I don't pay much attention to the doom and gloom experts or the talking heads on the tube. They seem to be about six months behind whatever is happening.

Let me take that back. I do pay attention. It's just that we seem to wait until there is a crisis and then try to deal with it after the fact - sort of a Pearl Harbor syndrome. It's too dangerous a world for that. Maybe it used to take a little longer to reach the tipping point. Now things happen instantaneously.
Warning Signs
Anyhow, this week there were a few signs around that things might not be as worry-free as I had earlier believed.

First was the story about people selling their cemetery plots in order to pay bills. I guess when it comes down to worrying about finding a house to live in now or a hole in the ground for eternity, you have to go with the here and now. Still, forever is a long time and I'm not sure what the holding pattern is going to be before I get a final assignment.

Then came an Associated Press story that reported more and more people were now living in their vehicles. The problem seems to be the greatest in California, where towns are passing legislation to keep people from parking their aging RVs and SUVs on public property.

Years ago when our boys were young, we bounced around the country in one of those high-top vans. It would have been a little tight but I guess we could have survived for a few weeks in one, but never on a permanent basis. We still have a minivan but I can't see the five of us, along with two dogs and three cats spending more than an afternoon in one without some serious problems.

Knowing that I am the local guru for chili, one of our business editors sent me a story about a housing developer who is going to hold chili contests to attract buyers to their developments. The idea is you bring your own recipe to the development and you could win a prize and, they hope, buy a house while you're there.

I don't know about chili as an incentive to buy a house, but in the coming hard times, you can make a pretty big vat of the stuff without spending a lot of money.

Loaded Palms

Finally, I became convinced we are in for hard times when I saw that video of the guy trying to rob a store with a palm frond. Police in DeLand arrested Gelando Olivieri Jr. after they say he went into the V&M Discount Beverage Store and began waving a palm frond in the air and demanding money from the clerk.

A customer in the store grabbed a stool and chased Olivieri out.

If you are a Floridian you know palm fronds can hurt you, especially if you're trying to hack one off your tree, but when robbers can't even afford a knife, much less a gun, it's a sign things really are tough.

Somehow I don't thing this palm frond thing is going to catch on with robbers. I mean, can you imagine trying to hide one in your jacket the next time you decide to hit a convenience store?

Keyword, Otto Graphs, to read or comment on Steve Otto's blog.

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